Yunus is ‘secular’, will not let conflict happen between different communities in Bangladesh: Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said on Monday that Bangladesh interim government chief Mohammad Yunus is a “secular” leader and he will ensure that there is no conflict between different communities in his country. Incidents of violence against Hindus have been taking place in Bangladesh since the Sheikh Hasina-led government was ousted. Students’ protests against the reservation system in Bangladesh took the form of a mass uprising, after which Hasina had to resign from the post of Prime Minister. Amid the unrest in the country, incidents of crimes against Hindus and damage to their temples have increased. Economist Yunus (84) was sworn in as the chief advisor of the interim government of Bangladesh on Thursday. This post is equivalent to the Prime Minister. Pawar told reporters in Pune, “According to my knowledge, he (Yunus) is secular and he will never work to create conflict between different communities and different linguistic groups. It is important for Bangladesh to adopt a balanced approach and it seems that the situation (there) will improve.” The former Union minister said the Indian government will cooperate with Bangladesh to help it improve its situation. Pawar also said Yunus had visited Pune several years ago.